Toddler killed in Dundalk crash suffered spinal injuries, inquest hears
Seán McCárthaigh
A young boy who died after being involved in a two-car collision in Dundalk last year suffered fatal injuries to his vertebrae and spinal cord as well as a lack of oxygen to his brain, an inquest has heard.
Caolán Tasker Dullaghan (2) from Arran Court, Newry Road, Dundalk, Co Louth died in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street in Dublin on December 11th, 2025, five days after he had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital following the collision.
The fatal incident involving two vehicles occurred around 8.10pm on the R132 at Dowdallshill, Dundalk, Co Louth, close to Dundalk Stadium on December 6th, 2025.
The toddler was a passenger in one of the cars. Three other occupants of the vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries after the collision.
At a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, the deceased’s mother, Erin Tasker, burst into tears as details of how she formally identified her son’s body to gardaí in the intensive care unit of CHI at Temple Street were read out at the opening of the inquest into the toddler’s death.
Coroner Cróna Gallagher informed the brief hearing that the results of a postmortem showed he had died as a result of vertebral and spinal cord injuries and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (a lack of oxygen to the brain) caused by a road traffic collision.
Superintendent Ann Marie Lardner applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act on the basis that a Garda investigation into the circumstances of the little boy’s death was still ongoing.
“It will require some time to complete,” said Supt Lardner.
Dr Gallagher granted the adjournment for a period of six months and listed the case for a further update to October 13th.
Mourners at the toddler’s funeral heard the little boy being described as “a joy and blessing” for his family.
He is survived by his mother, Erin, father, Lee and brother, Fionn.
A GoFundMe campaign set up to support Caolán’s family has raised over €16,800 to date.
